ivenotbeeneverywhere

I have just phoned Thai Airways Australia for the email address of the Customer relations person but got such a ho hum reply that I have decided not to bother with them first but write a warning to all to avoid this airline and indeed Thailand itself if possible.
I booked a return fare from Kuala Lumpur to Dubai, via Bangkok in early May with the return in June. The first problem I had was my fault as I clicked something on the computer twice and found that I had booked myself, in my name twice for the flight instead of myself and my husband. The Christian name was the only problem. As that was my fault I was Ok in paying the penalty for a name change although I did think that a little bit off for such an easy mistake.
I arrived in Malaysia and checked my computer the day of departure on Thai to find that I had an email stating that my husband ( only him) had had his flight changed and was to have left that morning on a rather early flight to Bankgok. Needless to say it was only when I got to the airport that they wanted to charge me for changing the flight - which I had not done and an arguement started. We had originally had a 2 - 3 hour wait in Bangkok for our flight to Dubai and as we had a hotel in Malaysia there was absolutely no reason whatsoever in just one of us wanting to go and spend an entire day sitting at Bangkok airport.
I did have my mobile phone with me and it was on International Roaming but no phone call had come through from Thai Airways with any changes to scheduling.
Suffice it to say - the person who attended to excess charges like the fee they wanted to charge me for changing a flight - was not at work and so that way not forthcoming fortunately as I think it was to be about $200 or so.
On return from Dubai, we were getting our boarding passes done when the computers in Bangkok stopped for the day/night and only half of our details had been put into the computers i.e. forward baggage etc. Our friends had their boarding passes accepted but ours left up in the air. We were told in Dubai that immediately on arrival we should seek out the help of Thai to sort out if our bags indeed were booked through to Malaysia and also if we were booked through as well.
On arrival in Bangkok we walked about 1 mile to the end of the terminal to be told that they were not open and we had to get back there later that day. As one of our party is old and infirm I asked for transport back to immigration but was denied this as " we do not have any people movers" they said - we only passed about 18 on the way back so one has to ask what they are used for.
Because we had 8 hours till our next plane we organized a day room at one of the airport's hotels for a well earned sleep and shower. However on our return not only was our friends boarding pass not accepted but we were told that we had to pay 700 Baht each for going out of the airport and back in again. So off we went again on a marathon walk to the office which takes your money for daring to try and spend time in Bangkok. NO! they only take cash. So off we trot to the Foreign Exchange - they too only change cash, further walking to an ATM machine and back to the Office for extortion and payment and back boarding the flight with about 2 minutes to spare.
We were not told of this money making system. We were never given any help whatsoever with the exception of advise from people in Dubai. The flights were ordinary in every way. I have travelled extensively for decades and there is absolutely nothing special with Thai Airlines and I recall being on one of their first flights.
I have had no explanation for the mess about one of us being bumped off a flight or for them wanting money for me doing changes ( which I did not do) . I further now am not too happy about the charge for making a silly mistake in making a booking with my Christian name in twice.
The last time I flew in and out of Bangkok I missed the Street marches by 15 minutes which caused many people to be held in Bangkok for one week and seeing that Thailand has the reputation of being one of the World's biggest brothels if I never go through there again it will be too soon. Land of smiles - sure, but only when and if they can rip you off!

Jeff_Costa_Rica

The only people who can give you any satifaction will be Thai Airways. You should contact them. The whole business of posting to a website with a warning "never to fly an airline" or "never to visit a country" doesn't really sway people. People are going to continue to fly Thai and to visit Thailand.

Be specific and concise in your complaint. I have to be honest. I did not completely follow this story. Separating paragraphs with lines would have made it easier to read. Write to them only about the things that they had control over. The 700-baht fee (is that a fee to enter Thailand?) is not the airline's fault. Nor is the fact that the currency-exchange would change only cash. Nor was the unrest in Thailand last month. Nor is Bangkok's reputation for sex trade. Don't drag those things into your communication with the airline. Stick to just the complaints you have with them.

Good luck!

ivenotbeeneverywhere

If Thai Airways have made a booking for you and there is a considerable time lag between flights, particularly after a night flight, then of course it is proper to expect that you will be advised that there is a fee to go out of the terminal. Many airlines such as Southern China Airlines schedule their times to coincide with a shopping trip to say, Shenghen, but they do not charge for the privilege. Any airport tax should be incorporated into the flight fee. Surely the least that an airline can do is help the customer in these instances.
It is also one thing to advertise yourself as " land of smiles" or the airline for the land of smiles but then have nothing but incompetents running the show. Also I guess that you being male may think that Pat Pong "ping pong" is a joke but it really is rather disgusting. Sorry but there is a point at which small grievances become big ones when there are either too many of them or a "who cares" attitude exists in the industry. One has to look at the whole scene in the hospitality industry not just one little bit!

Jeff_Costa_Rica

First of all, I agree that the sex trade in Bangkok is disgusting. I never said that it's a joke. Please don't say that I did, okay?

I am saying that Bangkok's sex trade has nothing to do with your complaints against Thai Airways. If you're going to contact them (and I think you should), stick to the facts that they had control over. Wasn't that the point of your post? Rambling on about anything and everything will get you nowhere with any business's complaint department. Write something clear and concise (and separate the text into paragraphs), and then show your letter to somebody who doesn't know the situation. Ask if they understand what you're trying to say.

I think there are legitimate complaints that you should let the airline know about. If I were in their complaint department, though, I would never bother reading that long, dense, rambling text with all its detours into other areas. That's what I'm saying.

As they always used to say on old crime TV shows, "Just the facts, Ma'am."

ivenotbeeneverywhere

OK Jeff, I take on board what you say and will contact them direct if I can find anyone within that organization who will be interested to listen.

The first time I went to Thailand my husband and I loved it so much we made inquiries into living and working there but the only big problem was that we would have had to do our degrees in Thai and write them in Sanscrit ( sp??) a far too difficult task for a mono linguist like myself.

usernameistaken

First, it is standard to charge for name changes. Thank the terrorists.

Second, you might care to go to skytrax and post your experience there. They are a very helpful airline review website.

Third, brothels exist all over the world. At least the Thais are upfront about it, which I find refreshing.

CarolA

I got lost in the complaint length.... Lots of extra, useless information in there.

But what do street marchs, brothels etc... have to do with the airline?????

Once you start whining about things unrelated to your flight your complaint loses a lot of value IMHO!

For whining to be effective it should be short and too the point. The OP's post is neither.

DonTopaz

ivenotbeeneverywhere typed: <i>the only big problem was that we would have had to do our degrees in Thai and write them in Sanscrit ( sp??) a far too difficult task for a mono linguist like myself.</i>

Which language is the one that you speak?


p.s.: Sanskrit is a language of India.

ivenotbeeneverywhere

Rizzuto: just for your information, cut and pasted:

The Thai script (like all Indic scripts) uses a number of modifications to write Sanskrit and related languages (in particular, Pali). Pali is very closely related to Sanskrit and is the liturgical language of Thai Buddhism.